May 18 - 1926 - The Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson

In 1926, Aimee Semple McPherson was one of the most famous people in Los Angeles, as an evangelist and radio personality. Then she went missing after swimming off Venice Beach, making Aimee Semple McPherson and her whereabouts a national story. No one knew where she was, reported sightings were numerous, and stories of her running away with a former employee named Kenneth Ormiston became more common. Then five weeks later, McPherson showed up in the desert near Agua Prieta, Mexico, near the Arizona border. She had a wild story of kidnapping and travails in the Mexican desert by a random group of people. The Los Angeles County District Attorney, Asa Keyes, began an investigation into the circumstances of McPherson's kidnapping. Kenneth Ormiston was reported to have been with a mystery woman at a cottage in Carmel-by-the-Sea, which people supposed was Aimee Semple McPherson. Nothing like that was ever proven. So McPherson was charged with obstruction of justice. After a few months, Keyes gave up any investigation into the matter.